


Bruised

by Skaiaa



Category: Septiplier - Fandom, Youtube RPF, youtube - Fandom
Genre: M/M, fifth chapter throws everyone (including the author) for a loop, i wrote this before mark dyed his hair back to normal, sean doesn't come in for a few chapters, so have fun with that, they should have a chapter warning for suicidal characters tbh
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-01-16
Updated: 2017-12-23
Packaged: 2018-09-17 20:15:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 8,170
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9341432
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Skaiaa/pseuds/Skaiaa
Summary: Mark remembers bright lights. Voices. Screaming. Crying.And finally.Silence.





	1. White lips, Pale face

**Author's Note:**

> What, you can't expect me to always be the person who posts fluffy septiplier
> 
> I gotta balance it out with angst somehow

Crisp white walls seemed blinding as they rushed past at an intense speed. The sound of doctors and beeping screamed in his ears, but they didn’t click as a source of hope, only that he had once again failed.

It had been a while since he had dealt with this.. At the age of twenty-seven, Mark had officially gone a decade without incident, usually taking it out in a different way, such as gaming, although that did little to curb his feelings of self-doubt, despite the fact he had friends who he gamed with.

Lost in thought, the man didn’t realize he had reached his room, or that the doctors were pumping some horrible thing into his mouth through a tube until it was too late, and he vomited up his attempt at dying peacefully in the night, quite violently, the doctors holding up his head, brushing his messy bangs out of his face as the Asian male cried and shook in effort, fighting with them every step of the way, dark brown eyes glossed over in tears.

He couldn’t hear anything but his painful choking and the splash of liquid charcoal being emptied from his throat, bile burning the muscle red. They were trying to get all of the stuff out of him, whether it be food, or just the drugs themselves. Either way, it was working.

Finally emptying his lungs of his mixed medicinal coma, the Asian passed out, unable to hold himself up, or even force himself to breathe, too tired.  
\---

When he came to, the man was met with a bright light in his eyes, and he flinched away from it in reflex, eyes widening as he pulled his arms up, only to have them restrained by what felt like meta-

Handcuffs.

Oh jesus christ... what had he done?

Freaking out internally, the Asian man dared a look down, whimpering at the sight of his wrists handcuffed to the bedrail of his hospital bed, legs tingling in their own restraints.

“Fuck...”

Taking a breath, the brunette laid his head back against the pillow, sighing, licking his lips and immediately resisting the urge to spit at the repulsing taste lingering there. Charcoal.

He could feel his body drenched in sweat, crusty and dry fragments of his bangs stuck to his forehead as he tried to recall last night.

It hadn’t been a good night.

He had been drinking with his buddies, and when he turned off the webcam and was left alone with his thoughts, his drink-addled brain decided enough was enough, and the normally calm man was stripping his drug cabinet of anything he could find that would knock him out, and was downing them without a second thought, leaving the bathroom quickly, light still on, fumbling for something to drown his pain as he fell to the kitchen floor with a dull thud, trying to pick himself up enough to reach the fridge, dribbling white foamy spit everywhere, slipping on his own saliva, crying in pain as he reached for the remains of his booze bottle. It had shattered in his fall, and alcohol stained his shirt, making him tear up more.

It proved futile, as his roommates, awoken by the noise and mindless rambling, rushed into the kitchen to see their friend foaming at the mouth and gasping for air.

Matt called 911 as Ryan tried to stop his friend from choking to death, yanking his body to him and trying to preform a Heimlich motion, hands shaking in fear as he begged Matt to hurry up, not caring about the mess on the floor as he tried anything to get the poison out of his friend’s body...

Mark remembers bright lights. Voices. Screaming. Crying.

And finally.

Silence.


	2. Mistakes were made

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mark wakes up in handcuffs in a hospital bed, reeking of alcohol and vomit. What the hell had he done, and why was he so afraid to find out?

Groaning, the Asian squeezed his eyes shut and tested out his restraints, peering around his empty room for a clock of some sort. It was ten in the morning.

Either he was found later than he thought, or Mark had actually slept almost twelve hours...

The latter sounded the most reasonable in his book.

“ Great...”

Popping his bones the best he could from his controlled position, the young adult peered around the room again, eyes settling on a particular button. Nurse button. Call button... A way free.

Wriggling in his binds, the Asian man pulled and pulled on his bindings until he was sure the metal was going to bruise him internally from the way it pressed and scraped his skin. 

Mark wriggled a little bit more, making huffs and groans of concentration until his hand was free enough to press the button, albeit only for a short amount of time before it hurt too much to bear that position much longer, cursing under his breath as he waited.

A middle-aged lady walked into the room, causing his throat to tighten, because she didn’t come alone.

The last thing Mark would ever want to do would be to disappoint his family, but here he was, watching the breath slip from his lungs as he fought a panic attack at what was in front of him.

His mother.

And his brother.

Fear and loathing preyed on his nerves, shot and whimpering.

Not being able to stand it anymore, Mark began to sob like a child, feeling so helpless, trapped like an animal, which he felt was much better than anything he’d ever deserve again... He had hurt his family... And that hurt more than anything.

“ M-Mama, I-I- I’m so-”

“ Hush.”

“W-Wha-?”

“ Be quiet, son... Please..Just be quiet..”

His eyes flooded with more tears at the words, calm, yet harsh.

He obeyed, his heart breaking a bit as he waited.

“ Mark.”

“ Yes, mama?”

“ Do you need help?”

“ N-No, o-of course not, It was a one time thin-”

“ Mark Edward Fischbach.”

He grew silent, staring at his hands, the handcuffs glistening in the light of the hospital room.

“...Yes?”

“ You said that last time. Now, answer truthfully, my son. Do you need help?”

Tears welled in the Asian’s chocolate orbs and he let out a pitiful sob.

“ Yes.. Yes, I do, mama.”

The small Asian lady sighed, looking over at her eldest son, whom motioned to the nurse to release his younger brother from the handcuffs.

Once free, Mark rubbed his wrists and hugged his mom and brother, sobbing hard, clinging to them for what seemed dear life.

“ I love you guys so much, I didn’t mean to hurt you...”

Mark’s mother narrowed her eyes.

“ Hurt us? Mark, you would’ve hurt yourself worse than we could’ve ever been hurt.”

The youngest of three curled in on himself in shame.

“ I never meant to do this... It was all just getting way too much. The voices, the expectation, the reality... It didn’t help that I had been drinking like a dingus the entire time, either.”

Tom rolled his eyes.

“ Drinking or not, you hurt yourself. And the inebriated brain acts on unspoken desires, Mark.”

The Asian male couldn’t help but grin sheepishly.

“ You make it sound like I wanted to take death on a date.”

“ Well, did you?”

“... Shuddup.”

“That’s enough, you two, there are guests.”

Mark and Tom looked up as two more figures entered the room, one holding forms, the other holding more handcuffs.

“ Mister Fischbach.”

“ Officer.”

“ Given that you were saved from a potential deadly overdose, you have no choice but to have a follow up in the mental hospital... We do hope you understand, we aren’t trying to upset you, only to help you. However... If you resist, there will be brute force and you WILL be handcuffed and put in the back of the police car. It’s the only way we can ensure you’ll be receiving the help you deserve and rightfully need.”

Mark just blinked a few times, sighing and running a weary hand through his hair, grimacing at the crusty feeling of sweat that pulled from his skin at the motion. He needed a shower.

“ Of course, Officer... May I have time to go and get my stuff, or will I need to leave immediately?”

“ We need to leave immediately, Mr. Fischbach. They’ve been waiting for you, but these two convinced us not to send you off while you slept.”

Mark turned toward his mom, blinking, raising a brow.

“Mom?”

“ It wasn’t us, son.”

“ Then who?-”

The door burst open and two of the most boisterous beings in the entirety of California swept into the room, immediately going over and slapping Mark hard across the face.

Matt and Ryan.

“ You fuckin’ terrified us, man!”

“ Don’t just fucking slap him, you idiot!”

“ Well, I’m pissed! We almost lost this dumb butt tonight!”

“ So am I, but that doesn’t mean you just go and punt his face in!”

Mark rubbed his aching jaw, feeling for the bruising that would probably follow, in shock.

“ Fucking hell, guys...”

Two pairs of eyes flitted to where the Asian man was sitting, and they softened softly.

“ You okay, man? Matt really did a number just now.”

“ I was scared!”

Ryan rolled his eyes, thunking the blond on the head with his fist.

The ravenet male stretched and smiled sadly.

“ I’m fine, just a little shaken...” He grew silent, sighing loudly and hiding his face. “ I really messed up.”

His mother stifled a sigh of sadness, frowning.

“ Son?.. You do know we all love you, yes?”

“ Of course, mama.”

“ Yeah, even if we slap the shit out of you in the heat of the moment.”

“ IT WAS ONE TIME!”

Mark just watched in bittersweet amusement, sighing heavily when the policeman cleared his throat for silence in the room.

“ Mr. Fischbach, we’ve really put this off long enough, now, come, they’re going to call the police again if you don’t show up soon, and I don’t need my higher ups getting upset because I bent the rules.”

“ Yes, sir..”

“ Alright, everyone, clear out!”

Ushering everyone out the door again, the cop led Mark forward by his wrist, finally getting him out the door and into the car before speeding off.

A so begun the chapter of life Mark wasn’t prepared to read; His recovery story.

His stomach sunk at the realization.


	3. Call me Jack

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jackaboy is not a gaming youtuber in this, and he doesn't know Mark. He's a voiceactor, like he wanted to be, and has not heard of Markiplier, Pewdiepie, Ken, or anyone like that. 
> 
> Without any further ado, have fun~!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Jack is here because he also tried overdosing. More people may come to be in this story, but i'd have to find a way to make it work.
> 
> Jack has a sad sense of humor. Someone hug the poor bean

Watching the world go by in a police car is not something Mark had believed he would ever experience, and it wasn’t quite as bad as he believed it might have been. It was quiet, the road rumbling softly under the tires of the car, the only noise being the still air and his own breathing, the radio dead silent, as if he were in trouble.

He supposed he was.

Watching LA dance by was not something he had planned on seeing from this point of view either, but who was he to fight the beauty of the winding world?

Slowly, the view turned from crowded streets to winding roads that lead to seemingly nowhere, until, once again, they were in streets surrounded by people. He hoped he wasn’t recognized.

Luck, if you’d call it that, seemed to be on his side as he was ushered none too politely into the establishment, fumbling in confusion as he was lead down the winding hallways and to a desk. 

The reception area was bleak and dead, the only sound that of the acrylic nails of the secretary whom was currently ignoring them in favor of typing obnoxiously.

With a cough from the cop, the lady looked up, annoyed.

“ Yes?”

“ Mr. Fischbach is here.”

“ Mark Edward?”

“ One in the same, ma’am.”

“ Take him down the hall, to the door farthest from here, and leave him there. The doctor will join him soon enough.”

“ Soon enough?-”

Mark was quieted down as he was led down the halls, to his designated room, confused as he took a seat.

The cop sat beside him, tapping his foot.

It took an hour of Mark scrolling through his phone and tapping his foot before the doctor arrived, ushering the cop out of the room.

“ Mark?”

“ Yes’m?”

“ Hello there, I am going to be your diagnostic member for today. I’m going to need you to answer a few questions. This is entirely confidential, and will not be heard or spread to anyone else. During your time here, you do not have to talk to anyone. Do I make myself clear?”

“ Clear as crystal, Ma’am.”

“ Good, now-”

She questioned for hours on things. Things that made no sense. Things that seemed irrelevant, even some things from his childhood that he had since buried. He felt violated by the end of it all, and was stinging strangely, peeved. They had dug and prodded at parts of him he wanted to be left alone.

Sure, it was their job, but he was a grown ass man, who didn’t want to relive his childhood trauma. He told them as much when they kept prodding at him to talk, or to speak up when he mumbled.

They marked him down as uncooperative.

So be it.

When they took blood, he gave it willingly.

When they handed him a cup and told him to do what needed to be done, he did.

When they asked him to open up about his past, he shut down, snapped at the doctor, and was threatened, before being brushed back into his seat and told this was a place of help, for the billionth time.

He told them to fuck theirselves.

He got another mark.

\---

Once they were finished reviewing him, Mark had a few minutes left with his phone to relay to his fans what was going on before it was taken and he was placed in a room with other adults, feeling out of place as he wandered to a chair at the very edge of the room. 

Everyone had looked up when he entered what seemed to be the common room, many different adults looking up and surveying him. Some with wide eyes as they realized who he was, some with predatory smirks, some with disdain, some with wonder, and some with less of a fuck to give than what was on TV.

He felt scared, once again reminded that he was in a mental place. AN institution. To help him.

The seriousness of the situation hit him like a bag of bricks and suddenly he felt sick to his stomach.

Ryan and Matt had agreed to bring him clothing by the end of today, but until then he was plastered to that one chair, petrified.

See, you’d never think Mark would be so easily spooked... But that just proved a lot of people didn’t really know as much about Mark as they believed they did. He had anxiety. He got scared in crowds of people he didn’t know. He could pick fights, knock someone out, and feel just fine. He couldn’t stand the feeling of eyes on him at every turn... And the feeling of disappointing people.

Trembling in his seat, he hardly looked up when he was approached, until a hand waved in front of his face.

He peered up cautiously, blinking.

A soft, baby-blue gaze met his own, and he felt himself relaxing.

“ Hey there, ya alright here, buddy? Ye look spooked.”

Mark grimaced and looked away.

“ I’m fine.... I just made a stupid mistake and now i’m paying for it.”

“ Oh-” 

The man sat beside the Asian.

“ Mistake, ye say?”

“ Yeah.. Tried overdosing... Failed. A lot of dumb shit.”

The man nodded, listening carefully.

“ If it makes ye feel any better, or gives ye any consolation, we’re in the same boat. I tried overdosin’ m’self. Too much shite tae deal wit’.” 

Mark looked over at the man again, smiling sadly.

“ But you seem so... I’dunno- bubbly?”

A sweet, soft laugh sounded from the male next to Mark.

“ Bein’ bubbly doesn’t mean I don’t want tae die. It jis’ means I’m a great actor...”

The man sighed, slumping in his seat.

“ An’ I’m probably annoyin’ ye wit’ this dumb talkin’ anyway.”

Mark blinked, frowning.

“ No, not really. I’m just surprised you approached me at all. Or anyone, for that matter.”

The man smiled softly.

“ Well, it’s, uh, it’s what I do... No use fer everyone tae be so down an’ blue whilst there’s happiness tae be found elsewhere.”

Mark smiled.

“ You’re strange.”

“ I’m truthful.”

Mark laughed a bit, straightening up with the other male.

“ So, uh, what’s your name, stranger? Yer new around here, from what I’ve seen.”

“ Just off the boat to mental land, and the name is Mark.”

The man rolled his eyes, laughing bittersweetly.

“ I’m Sean, but most people call me Jack.”

Mark raised a brow.

“ It’s an Irish t’ing.”

“ Oooooh. Okay, that kinda makes more sense.”

Jack laughed slightly.

“ You’re a doof.”

Mark laughed a bit in return.

“ And the weird humor of the Irishman returns.”

“ Oh, shut it.”

Mark smiled softly.

Maybe It wouldn’t be quite so scary here after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading
> 
> If you have any suggestions for who should be included in this fic, please tell me, for I would love to know what you think.


	4. Weirdos

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> First group therapy session for Mark

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was inspired by my own first group therapy session from my time in the hospital
> 
> I apologize if it seems a bit weird, but we legit wrote everything in marker because they didn't trust us with pencils of any sort
> 
> I once had a room mate who smuggled a pen into our dorm

Mark’s friends arrived with his clothes and he excused himself from the common room of misery to meet with them and take his clothing, and a few books, surprisingly enough, with him to his room, which they led him to. He was alone in the room, with no roommate to be seen... Fair enough.

Folding his clothing carefully, he laid it in his cubbies, setting up outfits for as long as he’d be here. Granted, he’d have to do laundry soon enough, but at least he’d be able to delay the inevitable this way, and not take forever to drag his ass up in the morning.

A brisk knocking on the door brought the Asian from his thoughts.

He turned to face the incessant noise, raising a brow.

“ Yes?”

“ Mr. Fischbach, you’re needed in the common room for group therapy. You’re not supposed to be in your room, anyway.”

Mark shrugged.

“ They let me in here to put away my stuff. I just figured I’d take a few more minutes to organize it.”

“ And, my, what a luxury that is. But it is not one we’ll spare often. Come now, to the room.”

The nurse left the room and Mark found himself a bit put off by the situation that had gone down just now.

“ Shit, this really is new.”

He left to join the others, closing the door behind him, as he was instructed, listening to the lock clicking into place.

Joining the other people in a circle of chairs, Mark found himself snorting, and quickly covered his mouth. A few people looked at him, eyebrows raised.

He cleared his throat, embarrassed, sitting down quickly and quietly, nervously running his hands over his knuckles, pressing lightly on them, making sure not to pop them, although he wouldn’t necessarily be bothered if they did.

He startled when a ball of energy bounded from the hallway and flopped next to him, seemingly having jumped over the seat to sit.

Mark was amused, and Sean was out of breath.

“ Shite, I’m gettin’ too old tae do t’is.”

Mark laughed lightly, breaking into a fit of hilarity when Jack bopped him hard on the shoulder for it.

“ Oh, stop it, ya doof.”

“ I’m sorry, you’re just so much like a kid, it’s ridiculous to hear you say something like that.”

“ I’m twenty seven. Turned it recently, actually.”

Mark raised a brow.

“ Twenty seven? Shit, we’re the same age.”

“ No shite?”

Mark laughed a bit but quickly quieted down when the room filled the rest of the way up and an adult that honestly couldn’t have been much older than the group took a seat, holding forms which she then handed out amongst the group, handing them each markers. Mark grabbed the pink one with no qualms, whilst Sean grabbed the red, and so on, and so forth.

Once everyone was settled with their markers, the session began.

\-------  
‘ Chart of the day ‘  
Name: Age:  
Mood:  
Appetite:  
Goals for session:  
Feeling of safety:  
Reason for being here:

\------

Mark filled out the form as correctly to himself as he could, waiting for the others to finish once he was done.

One by one, they finished, eyes darting to the last person writing until they were done as well.

Once finished, the teacher nodded and asked if anyone would like to read off their papers first. No one volunteered, which made the nurseaid sigh.

“ Very well. I’ll begin, and we can go counter clockwise.” 

Taking a breath, and smoothing her hair, the nurse began. 

“ My name is Julian, yes, you heard that right, It’s Julian, I’m thirty-six, my mood is a bit dampened by how sad I can tell some of you are, my appetite is good, albeit overactive.”

The room laughed a bit, some agreeing with her. Dinner was soon.

“ My goals for the session are to make some friends, and help some of you relay your feelings that may be hiding.” 

Julian shifted in her seat as she got to the feeling of safety, getting more comfortable.

“ My feeling of safety is very high, and my reason for being here is I took it upon myself to help others so they’d never have to deal with what I dealt with many years ago. SO, before you, um, get to feeling i’m only here for a paycheck, I just wanted to let you all know, that I relate.”

Sean blew some air out of his lungs at that, not rightly believing her, but not outright saying it.

She connected eyes with him, raising a brow, locked in a staring match with the blue-eyed man.

He shrunk. She continued.

“ Now that i’ve shared my story, it’s time for you to all share yours. You don’t have to expand, if you don’t want to, but I’ve found it helps.”

The line continued after that, talking, some explaining a bit more in depth what their answers meant, or why they were here, until they got to Mark, who cleared his throat, nervous again.

“ Uh, um.. Hi, I’m Mark... I’m twenty seven.. My goal is to- fuck- I meant to say my mood, not that-”

He laughed a little nervously and Sean chuckled, along with a few others.

Gosh, he felt like a kid again.

Clearing his throat, he continued.

“ As I said, I’m twenty seven, and my mood is actually a bit nerve-wracked. I’m usually so much easier to approach, and to talk with. Y’know, my job is actually talking to people, so this is a bit embarrassing, but that’s just kinda what happens when you’re in a new place, I guess,” he rambled before taking a breath, closing his eyes, tightening his grip on his paper. “ I sound like an idiot, I’m sorry...”

“ You don’t sound like an idiot.”

Mark opened his eyes and looked up at the voice, finding a black-haired male in a dark-grey hoodie looking at him sincerely. 

“ Excuse me?”

“ I said, you don’t sound like an idiot. Hell, do you have any idea how hard it is to talk in these things and not sound like a robot? Like, Hi, my name is Robot number 1345, and my mood is totally shit, because i’m in a mental hospital.”

Mark laughed a bit.

“ Heh, I guess.”

“ Mark, would you like to continue later,” Julian interrupted.

“ No, no, I got this..”

He took another breath.

“ My goal for this session is to stop being such a dumbass, and stop treating this moment like it’s never going to end. I made a mistake, it’s not the end of the world, y’know? As for appetite, I’m actually starving. I woke up in a hospital and everything tasted like charcoal, and then I was brought here without food, so I’m just clawing at the hope that I can have food later,” the Asian male admitted.

Jack raised a brow. 

“ They didn’t feed you? Pffft- That’s when ye complain until they get tired of hearin’ ya, preferably loud talking, close tae shoutin’, and finally feed ya.” 

Jack grinned as the people in the room burst into laughter.

“ This little greenbean made the nurse go absolutely nutty the first night here because he wanted food.”

“ I was bein’ interviewed for like five hours, give me a break.”

Mark chuckled. 

“ I’ll consider your method if things get real bad,” the Asian concluded.

“ Fair enough,” Jack snickered.

“ Mr. McLoughlin, stop being a bad influence.”

” Yeah, Jack, stop being a brat,” the raven-haired male from before quipped playfully.

“ Yes, mom.”

Mrs. Julian laughed.

Mark smiled a bit, starting to feel like he was surrounded by a strange, fucked-up family of friends to be.

“ And, uh, as for why I’m here,” Mark finally continued,” I couldn’t deal with life, and tried overdosing, but I slipped and made a bunch of noise that woke my room mates up, and, boom, here I am.”

The group nodded, some making a face at his reason, relating to it, Jack included.

“ That was very brave of you to admit, Mark. I’m proud of you,” Julian replied.

“ I’m glad I was able to get that off my chest, “ Mark admitted.

“ Mr. McLoughlin?”

“ Hmmn? Oh- It’s my turn.”

Jack straightened out his paper, readjusting his glasses and reading over his words before continuing. 

“ Hiya, everyone. I’m Jack. I’m twenty seven, m’ mood is alright, m’ goals fer this session are tae make it through without gettin’ dragged away fer some reason or another.” He cleared his throat. “ It’s the pills, don’t tell anyone.” He continued. “ My appetite is shite, sadly enough. My feelin’ of safety is medium. Nate is eyein’ me like a predator, and I’m feelin’ like prey. Someone escort him from me.”

Nate burst into little quips of snarky laughter, flipping Jack off.

“ You friggin wish I was interested in you. I’m zoning out and staring into space.”

“ I change my answer, my safety is definitely in the red zone, someone help meeeeee!”

The group laughed.

“ See, this is why we can’t have nice things.”

“ Mr. McLoughlin!”

Jack smiled shyly.

“ Sorry, boss.”

Mark grinned.

“ Aww, but it was just getting good.”

“ See, even the new guy gets it!”

“ Back on topic, Mr. McLoughlin, we’re running out of time, and we’re only halfway done.”

“ Aww, yer no fun. Anyway, all jokes aside, m’ safety is fine, and I’m here because, like a lot of ye, I tried overdosin’. Didn’t work.”

Mark nodded sympathetically.

With Jack done, the rest of the group talked, until the bell rang.

Mark jumped at the noise.

“ Alright, everyone, head to the cafeteria. You food trays should be there. After dinner, head to the nurses area for your showering packets. You can grab towels on the way there.”

Mark’s stomach growled loudly and everyone laughed as they got up.

“ And, someone get Mark food before he passes out, please.”

“ On it,” Nate called, heading out of the room with Jack and Mark.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> that was my first time writing for nate
> 
> I apologize for him


	5. Demons in doorways

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Guess who has come to play?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I got inspired to write again, and I should actually be sleeping, but haha who needs sleep (Me, I have work tomorrow)
> 
> This story took a complete turn because I found out I've actually repressed my former memories and wanted to change things up as well. They are still in a mental hospital. They are still going to go through everything. I just wanted their egos to also join the party and, perhaps, give light as to all the bad feelings arising, so I don't pin everything on Mark, or Jack, or even Nate. Nate has no negative aura, he is literally just a dude, Jack and Mark have their Egos, the main Egos, consisting of: Dark, Wilford, and Anti, respectively, and the Egos cannot mess with anything or anyone but each other, and their hosts. They are not demons, just images, thoughts, sounds, and feelings, like Schizophrenia, which, I, myself experience. I am in no way making fun of people with these problems. I know it's a terrifying experience.
> 
> Jack is still not a Youtuber. At this point, Anti is just here to cause trouble, much like Dark is. Wilford is a false sense of reality. Dark is all Mark's twisted thoughts personified. It becomes easier explained in the chapter.
> 
> The idea began so suddenly that in the middle of writing I found out I had changed the storyline completely.
> 
> With that being said, I hope you enjoy this new content, and apologize for how long it took to produce it (Almost a year, but who's counting?)

Mark wandered quietly after the energetic child that was his new proclaimed best friend and the man in the grey hoodie like a lost, wobbling puppy. He didn’t know where to go, so it was safe to say he was like a duckling following its mother, complete with walking into a door he didn’t expect to be there.

Turning the corner, he wandered out into the open hallway and then into an enclosed room, where he was sat down dead in the center of the room with his new friends. 

 

It was awkward, to be honest, but Mark didn’t know anyone else, and the area of the room with the most people was actually the corners and sides, surprisingly. No one was really here to make friends, and that was understandable, but he expected at least some cliques already. Maybe the adults didn’t have time for that? Heh, high school and college would beg to differ.

Jack waved his hand in front of his new friend’s face, snapping to get his attention, confused and amused at what was going on.

“Ye alright, bud?”

The Asian man blinked profusely, looking around, embarrassed.

“Y-Yeah, sorry, I’m in space over here.”

Jack rolled his eyes with a careful smile.

“That’s alright, we all get a little out of it the first day here. I was actually over in the corner like everyone else, keepin’ to myself, and then ol’ Nathan here flopped himself down at m’ table, and made himself comfortable.”

Mark laughed to himself, raising a brow at Nate.

“I have no excuse other than he was lonely and the only one with insanely colored hair that I felt draw me in.”

“Psh- Literally any tinder date ever,” Sean replied, laughing heartily.

Nate and Mark got a chuckle out of that.

“And since you look like a little red cockatoo, I was drawn to you, I guess,” Jack admitted with a lilted laugh. “ Also, you weren’t speakin’, and it’s my self proclaimed job to make everyone else comfortable in this facility.”

“What he actually does is make everyone really uncomfortable though.”

“Oh, bite my arse, ya bastard.”

“Mr. McLoughlin!”

Jack winced at his name being called, knowing he was going to be reprimanded for his language, despite his age. They didn’t care about your age, you were not supposed to be negative. Ever. How ridiculous.

Nate found that hilarious.

“Mr. McLoughlin, jeez, watch your language!”

“Nathan, I will bite you if you keep makin’ me out to be a brat.”

Mark giggled and Jack glared at him, which made him laugh harder.

“Look, now Mark is against you, too.”

Jack sighed and started laughing.

“You’re a pain in the arse.”

“Mr. McLoughlin!”

“What! He’s bein’ a pain in the arse!”

“There is no need for that foul language.”

“ Aaaaaaaaaagh!”

Mark laughed a bit more and pat his new found friend on the back.

“This happens often?”

“Depends, do you count ass as a cuss word?”

“Probably, yeah.”

“Jack is constantly reprimanded for his language,” Nate explained.

“Fer no good reason. I’m almost thirty, let me curse, dammit!”

“McLoughlin!”

“Oh, fer the love of all that is holy!”

Mark shrugged, still laughing.

“I’m not gonna pin ya for the cursing. It’s basically what I do all day. I went to an event for children to raise money for charity, and I cussed in front of thousands of children. Eventful, I’ll tell ya that.”

Jack raised a brow.

“What do ya do fer a livin’?”

Mark was taken aback.

“Oh- Uh- I’m a Youtuber.”

“..”

 

He felt his stomach drop.

“...Haha, yeah… That’s about the response I get anywhere…”

 

The Asian looked down at his lap, teasing his lip between his teeth, mentally kicking himself for his foolishness.

“That’s actually freakin’ cool.”

“Yeah, I understand if you don’t want to hang anymo-Wait, what?”

Mark looked flabbergasted, completely appalled by the turn of events. Everyone else had told him it wasn’t a “real” job, and that he should pursue something that wouldn’t fall through the cracks with a crash a burn once the market of Youtube wore off, and people wandered off.

Sean was unphased, beaming brightly.

“I said, that’s freakin’ cool. I’m a voice actor, myself, but I never hit it off on youtube, haha.”

Nathan looked pleased.

“Another Youtuber, eh?”

Mark lit up like a light.

“You’re a tuber?”

“I’m no Pewdie, but I dabble in it, yeah.”

“No one is Felix, haha.”

Nathan grinned, raising a brow.

“First name basis?”

Mark chuckled, rolling his eyes, blushing bashfully.

“Yeah, I’ve played a couple of games with him here and there.”

Jack looked confused.

“Yer a gaming channel?”

“Gaming, skits, stupid vlogs,” the man explained.

“Man, how have I never heard of ya?”

“I dunno, does work keep you busy?”

“Kinda? I don’t voice anything really important, but I’ve had parts in video games.”

Mark looked delighted.

“That’s awesome!”

Jack smiled sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck.

“ I guess.”

“I gotta ask, do you game? You’ve got the personality to be an instant magnet.”

Nate rolled his eyes.

“Dangit, Jack, stop charming people. I need a fanbase!”

Mark laughed, amused.

“What’s your info, dude?”

“NateWantsToBattle,” the Musician answered easily enough.

Mark was quiet for a moment as he let his mind wander before snapping back like an elastic.

“Five nights at Freddy’s!”

A couple of other people in the room looked over, bewildered at the exclamation of something so random.

“Haha, you got it!”

The redhead ignored the people and focused on Nate, suddenly serious, eyebrows creased in confusion.

“Aww, heck, how’d you end up here, man?”

Nate’s bubbly facade faded and he smiled sadly as the new guy unearthed a pot of shadows, bubbling to the surface like an overflowing cauldron.

“Oh, yikes, Maerk, that’s a bit hard of a truth to admit,” Jack cut in, cutting the tension apart with a metaphorical knife.

“Wait, really?”

Nate nodded, smile strained on his face as he pulled his sleeves down further over his wrists.

“Jack was here when I was admitted. It just... It wasn’t a pretty picture, and it’s tough to talk about.”

Mark frowned, noticing the motion and looked at his own wrists, running a finger over a definite line on his vein, faint, but protruding if you caressed it.

“Oh, no, no, I understand. Sorry for pressuring you.”

Nate looked up, smiling softly.

“No problem, dude.”

Mark’s stomach rumbled again and the group at the table giggled like small children while he flushed as red as his hair.

“We should probably focus on feeding you,” Nate joked.

“He’s too polite. He’d probably starve if he didn’t have help,” the Irishman jested playfully.

Mark looked offended and Jack quickly backpedaled.

“I’m sorry, that was rude. I just meant that you’d probably not ask fer help? That doesn’t sound any better, I’m so sorry, oh my Jesus.”

Mark cracked a smile, rolling his eyes.

“You’re right. I don’t like being a nuisance.”

The group chuckled a bit and got their trays, sitting back down and beginning to eat, making small talk, but otherwise keeping to themselves.

Nate was quiet for a while before slamming his hand down on the table.

“Markiplier!”

Mark jumped in his chair, spooked, almost choking on his food, people at the other tables looking over at the commotion as he beat on his chest.

“...Yes?”

“I can’t believe I didn’t recognize you.”

“I didn’t recognize you either, it’s not that big a deal,” Mark stuttered, confused and a bit embarrassed, all eyes in the room on him.

Jack smiled, not truly understanding what was going on, but enjoying being a part of it.

“Man, you guys should collab.”

“That’d be a fun thing to explain,” Mark quipped sarcastically.

Nate grinned, looking far too similar to the Cheshire cat to be comfortable.

“I can imagine it. Hello everybody, Markiplier here, and today I am joined by NateWantsToBattle! Now, how we met is actually a funny story.”

“Jesus, I’d never out that you’d been in a hospital before, dude. Maybe we were walking down the street and ran into each other,” The Asian man suggested before slapping a palm to his face at how ridiculously fake it would sound that way.

“Mhmm... I mean, you could show up in some of my songs. That’s not suspicious,” Nate reasoned in retaliation.

“Oh, true.”

Jack watched the two men talk before focusing on his food, picking at it slowly.

Mark frowned as he noticed the change in atmosphere on the green bean’s end.

“Not hungry?”

“Not really. I wish I could eat, but I just haven’t been able to since they put me on this damn mood medication shit.”

Mark looked around to make sure no nurse would harp on them for the language before continuing his own thought process, a wave of static dotting the edges of his vision.

“Oh damn, I forgot they put you on meds in here.”

“Not prepared,” Jack asked.

“Nope,” Mark admitted quietly.

“You’ll get used to it,” Nate replied.

“But what if they mess up?”

“Oh, they will,” Nate said simply.

Mark frowned and picked at his nails.

“Nate, now is not the time. Can’t ye see he’s scared?”

“Been in this boat before, I’m not gonna lie to make him feel better.”

“Harsh.”

“Yeah, pretty much.”

Mark wasn’t very hungry after that conversation, setting the lid back on his tray and twiddling his thumbs, lost in thought as Jack and Nate started squabbling.

 

He sat in silence for close to fifteen minutes, trying to figure out what content he’d put out when he returned, the effects of him leaving, and reasoning that he had videos stockpiled to upload for about two weeks max. Given this was a long-term facility, and he was already on thin ice, Mark considered himself boned.

“Mr. Fischbach?”

The Asian man blinked out of his thoughts, looking towards the door, where a calm looking nurse welcomed him with warm chocolate eyes and blonde hair, smiling softly.

“Yes?”

“It’s your time to shower,” she explained politely.

“Oh- Um, yeah, thank you, I’ll be right there.”

Jack gave him a kind smile.

“You’re one of the first ones. No roommate,” he guessed.

“How’d you know?”

“Because the faster you shower, the sooner you can play cards and watch movies until our curfew. People beg their roommates to go first. One, to get the hot water, and two, to get it out of the way. Also, people without roommates go first because they have no one to compete with. We’re lucky, the teenage hospital staff sends their ass to bed at nine. We’ve got about 'til midnight.”

“Oooooh, so like college?”

“Yeah, like college,” Jack agreed.

“What’d you go to college for,” Nate asked simply.

Mark grinned sheepishly.

“I wanted to be an engineer.” He rubbed the back of his neck, “I, uh, didn’t become one.”

Jack raised a brow.

“I pinned ye as a smartie, but never expected that ta come out of yer mouth.”

“You thought I was smart, Mark asked with a disbelieving chuckle.

“Yeah, you kinda radiate it.”

“I thought I radiated stupidity.”

“That too,” Jack joked.

“Oh, thanks,” Mark chuckled.

“Hey, I went for hotel management and ended up a voice actor, so I’m not gonna get up in yer face about not doing what you went ta university fer, y’know?”

“Mr. Fischbach.”

“Coming! I’ll, uh, I’ll see you later,” Mark said, looking hopefully at his new friends, shifting on his feet.

“Common room, can’t miss it. Grab more than one towel and we’ll see you soon,” Jack explained and Mark nodded politely and headed on his way, the nurse looking after him fondly before collecting the other patients and telling them to head to the showers after getting their hygiene bins.

Jack watched the other man go quietly before sighing and scratching at his eye, putting his tray back on the shelf and heading to the common room to wait his turn, maybe catch the news if he was lucky enough to not have to tussle with the others for the remote.

Nate followed after him, disposing of his uneaten food and laying the tray in the shelving unit.

They’d call them to take more pills after their showers., and again in the morning, after taking vitals.  
\----  
Mark stood under the brisk running water, letting the suds run off his body as he leaned his forehead against the tile wall, hand tangled in his dark hair as he resisted the urge to bang his head against the wall, the rushing water doing little to drown out the voice in his head begging him to do it. It was so persistent lately. 

He had two voices. A voice of reason, and… 

Well, he kinda had two devils on his shoulders, to be honest. The voice of reason was just more composed, although he wasn’t any nicer than the devil.

He personified them in Egos and characters in skits, but that didn’t mean they weren’t actually with him when the cameras were off.

Wilford, the left devil on his shoulder, was the definition of insanity. Mark made him after traumatic events led him to want a false reality, finding himself wanting to apologize for the figment’s horrible life events, but not knowing how. He ran his own show now.

The right-hand devil, Damien...Dark, more informally, well, he was all his thoughts of hurt, self-loathing, anger, revenge… He was everything wrong that Mark couldn’t control. And now they wouldn’t shut the fuck up.

Sliding his eyes shut, the Asian man heaved a shaky breath and lifted himself from the wall, rinsing the rest of the suds off before opening his eyes and watching the rest of them swirl down the drain and out of existence as he willed his thoughts to do the same. They didn’t, but one could hope.

He’d have to tell someone about this soon enough.

“But what’s the fun in that,” a voice whispered in his ears.

Mark whipped around and fell against the wall, eyes wide as he crashed to the ground, body wash flying out of the curtain and breaking against the floor, cap shattered.

A cackle rang out in his skull and Mark remained frozen in place, water blinding him.

Mark sat in an unending loop of TV static and white noise for another two minutes. 

The voices faded to nothingness and the static eventually turned back into the sound of running water, now cold and briskly pelting his skin with an icy sheen, droplets washing him back into reality as he realized he was shaking from the lack of warmth.

Breathing quietly, the man picked himself up and turned off the water, ignoring his bruising skin as he picked up the bottle and cleaned up the puddling mess of soap, placing the broken cap in the bin and setting the bottle upright to keep it from spilling further as he gathered the rest of his items.

Yeah, he’d need to tell someone. Soon.

Drying off and leaving the bathroom, Mark got dressed in his room and tuned out the voices as best as he could.

That didn’t stop two figures from flickering in the mirror and shadows respectively. When Mark blinked, they were gone.

\---

After the shower, Mark and the others gathered in the meeting room, the place their therapy session had taken place, and settled down at separate tables or on the resting mats on the floor. Some of the people rested their heads and were out like lights. As predicted, Mark was the first one in the room and sat at a table, staring at the decorations on the walls as the other people filtered in.

Jack and Nate wandered in not much later, sitting at the table in their pyjamas before Jack ran over to what seemed to be a giant cabinet system in the corner of the room and pulled out a deck of cards, shutting the door and hurrying back over, plopping himself down excitedly. Instead of hopping over the chair, Sean scooted it out of place, crawled onto it, and scooted it back. Mark figured he was tired.

Plopping the deck of cards on the table, Jack set out to shuffling them while Nate drummed his finger on the tabletop, lost in thought.

“You alright, man?”

Nate startled, blinking, music fading from his head.

“Wha-? Oh, yeah, I’m fine.”

“You got an idea for a new song,” Mark asked, smiling.

“Yeah, listen to this.”

Nate cleared his throat and then screeched as loud as he could, belting out a string of expletives.

Mark fell backward out of his chair.

A nurse came running into the room, looking for the cause of the commotion and everyone got quiet, holding their breath.

“Who said it?!”

Nate stayed impossibly still.

Mark stayed on the ground, barely in view.

Jack just kept shuffling.

The nurse huffed and left the room and there was uproarious laughter in her wake.

“You’re a dick,” Jack murmured as he counted the cards to make sure he was right, grinning when he was correct.

“I just repeated what goes through my head on repeat at all times.”

Mark popped back up, fixing his glasses, wet hair sticking to his face, and also flying off in weird directions.

“Okay, same, but I feel like you’ve burst my goddamn eardrums.”

“Okay, but on a serious note, I think I’ve got some actual lyrics. You wanna hear them?”

“No!”

Jack and Nate chortled and Mark stuck out his tongue.

“Are we gonna play cards, or not?”

“Depends, you done being a meticulous bastard,” Mark quipped mirthfully.

“Depends, you done overreacting to everything,” Jack bit back without any venom, amused.

“That’s his entire career,” Nate sniggered.

“Hey! Low blow!”

“See?”

Mark socked him in the shoulder and all three of them laughed.

“It’s true, but you don’t have to say it.”

They played until curfew rolled around. They headed to bed and most of them were out like lights.

Mark and Jack, however, remained awake.

\---

“He’s not what you think.”

“And what do you know,” Mark growled quietly into the air, bathed in darkness, light traces of pink as well as a 3D glitching effect of blue bouncing off reflective surfaces.

“That man is ill-intended.”

There was a deafening silence as Mark thought.

“...How so?”

“Oh, so now you listen to reason? You don’t listen to me, but you listen to that dark, brooding bastard?”

“William, let him speak,” Mark hushed the other wisps of color.

“That is not my name!”

“Wilford, calm yourself,” the dark persona pacified before continuing. “ He can sense us.”

Mark’s breath caught in his throat.

“What?”

“He. Can. Sense. Us,” the pink wisps repeated, moving to the door and peering out into the hall, glaring at the door a little ways down, where the culprit rested.

“...And the other?”

“He is clueless.”

Mark was quiet for a short while, stewing in his thoughts.

“Does that mean he has a friend as well?”

“While I, myself, haven’t seen him, the man does have some strange ticks. The aura is green.”

“He’s generally pretty green himself, I don’t really know what a green aura would mean? Mind explaining, Darky?”

“PFFFFFFFF- DARKY?!”

“Wilford.”

“Do you just stick a ‘y’ on the end of your names to make it cute? That’s ridiculous.”

Dark sighed, taking a more corporeal form and grabbing the wisps of pink and shoving them from the door, tossing Wilford into his own personification, displacing the image for a few seconds, causing Mark to wince and close his eyes, head throbbing as the picture bounced back into place.

“The other might be able to hear you if you keep gabbing like that. Stay away from the door until we are certain,” the demoniaque ego griped. 

“What does it mean that he can sense you?”

“It means that he’s unpredictable, and to not get close.”

Mark glared, sitting up with a huff.

“You can’t be serious.”

“As a heart attack.”

“Oh, I’ve had a couple of those. Not too serious,” Wilford said offhandedly, heading back towards the door, despite having just been thrown.

“William.”

“WilFORD.”

“Both of you, shut the hell up,” Mark barked, annoyed, clutching his temple, willing them to leave him be, but to no avail.

There was a knock on the door and Mark was then blinded by a flashlight.

“Mr. Fischbach?”

“Hmm?” Mark asked, shielding his eyes with his arm.

“You’re supposed to be sleeping.”

“Oh, uh, yeah, I know, sorry… I’ve got insomnia pretty bad.”

Wilford chuckled and Dark rolled his eyes.

“Is that really the best you have,” the dark persona asked, shaking his head as the nurse bought it and left.

“I panicked.”

“Well, stop panicking, and stay away from the man,” Dark warned one last time before fading and finally leaving Mark to sleep. Not that he could with this new information.

The voices had only ever been...Mean? Why were they trying to help him? Should he listen?

He decided not to.

“You're a damn fool.”  
\----

“Yer kiddin’.”

“Nope, clear as fuckin’ glass.”

“He’s too sweet to bear a burden like that.”

“You’re a fuckin’ idjit.”

Jack glared and turned on his side, nearly jumping out of his skin at the form appearing in front of him.

“Watch his pills.”

“What?!”

“Watch his pills. See if he takes ones for seeing things.”

“That’s none o’ my concern,” Jack responded, turning on his other side to face the wall.

Anti crawled over him and whispered in his ear.

“Pussy.”

“Really mature, Anti,” Jack whispered as he shoved the thought off of him.

“Did you know he calls them Dark and Wilford,” the voice deflected, bouncing around the room, glitching a bit.

“How did you know that?”

“They were around in his subconscious when you first saw him.”

Jack vaguely recalled pops of color around the redhead during their first meeting. Ah, so that’s what it was. 

Eh, didn't matter. 

He was tired as balls.

“Augh, just let me sleep, you colossus dickweed.”

“You’ll meet them soon enough.”

“Wait what-”

Anti disappeared and Jack was left lying there, confused.

Meet them? What did he mean by that?

Nate shifted in his bed and Jack decided he should try to sleep this new information off.

After all, vitals were tomorrow.


End file.
